Post navigation

Leading Positive Change

Steve Jobs and many other successful leaders have been quoted on similar words of advice: perseverance is what makes the difference between success and failure. Jobs once said, “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance…unless you have a lot of passion, you’re not going to survive. You’re going to give it up. So you’ve got to have an idea or a problem or a wrong that you want to right that you’re passionate about; otherwise, you’re not going to have the perseverance to stick it through.”

At UTMB Health, our passion is providing excellent care and service for our patients and families. This requires dedication, innovative thinking and tremendous talent. Above all, it requires teamwork. Making a difference—even if we’re not in a position that we might perceive as a “commanding” position—doesn’t mean that we are not influential and respected leaders on our teams or that we lack power to make a difference.

Many of you may be familiar with TED Talks. TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.

I recently watched a TEDx presentation by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School professor and best-selling author, who is in the business of “sparking change”. Named one of the “50 most influential business thinkers in the world” by Accenture and Thinkers 50 research, Kanter has worked with thousands of leaders in dozens of countries. Her experiences have helped her extract what she believes to be the Six Keys to Leading Positive Change: show up, speak up, look up, team up, never give up, and lift others up. I thought Kanter’s ideas would resonate with all of us, no matter what role we have at UTMB. These are some simple things we can all work toward each day that will not only help us contribute to our teams, but also make us better leaders (formal and informal) and promote our Culture of Trust.

In this inspiring presentation, Kanter illuminates each key by carefully weaving in the stories of influential world leaders, fictional characters, and even ordinary people whose passions have ignited positivity. They are the stories of people who released their ideas into the world, found partners to help advance their goals, and remained motivated in the face of adversity.

How can we lead positively? These six positive things can help us keep things moving in the right direction and are ideas that each of us can use every day at work:

Show up. If you don’t show up, nothing really happens. This means being both physically and mentally present, ready to make a contribution. Be there. Be present. The very fact that you show up and realize that your presence makes a difference is the first key to leadership.

Speak up. No one knows what we’re thinking if we don’t express it! The power of having a voice isn’t simply about words; the power of having a voice is shaping the agenda and shaping issues for others—make people think about things in different ways. The person who is most influential in a discussion is the one who names the problem and gives people an idea for action. In a Culture of Trust, we all feel free to speak up, regardless of our role in the organization, because it is only when we are all willing to share our ideas and speak up that our patients get the best care and our work is best supported.

Look up. Look up at a higher principle—a bigger issue, vision or value. Without values, leadership is hollow. It is important for any leader to know what they stand for and to be able to elevate people’s eyes from the everyday problems that bog us down. We need leaders who help us get above those issues and realize what is truly fundamental in our values. Great companies stand for their mission, vision and values. When their leaders lead, they constantly remind people of a nobler purpose. It isn’t just about making money; it’s about trying to achieve something for the world. We should remind ourselves every day of that for which we stand. Dr. Joan Richardson, our own Chair of Pediatrics, said it best: “We want everyone who works at UTMB to be able to look people directly in the eye and say: ‘The care you will receive at UTMB Health will be the same care I would want my most cherished of loved ones to receive.'”

Team up. Everything flows better with partnerships. Anything worth doing is very difficult to do alone! The best enterprises and ventures are those in which there is a sense of partnership from the very beginning—in addition to having a good value proposition, successful organizations partner faster. There is great value in taking lots of separate efforts, bringing them together and aligning in one big team.

Never give up. Everything can look like a failure in the middle of the process. There’s almost nothing we start that doesn’t hit a roadblock or obstacle. At other times, a project can take longer than we imagined, because we have never done it before! The critics may surface and start attacking: “It doesn’t work!” You may have to go back to the drawing board. If you stop prematurely, it truly will be a failure. However, if you persist and persevere, if you find a way around the obstacles and flexibly redesign, often you can create a success. And it may not always be the success you first imagined. Keep in mind that a lot of technology turns out to be applied in ways we never thought of in the beginning. The ability to hang in there and not give up is a hallmark of leaders. It is also the hallmark of all of you who have worked so hard to bring UTMB back after Hurricane Ike.

Lift others up. Share success. The credit, the recognition and the idea of giving back once you have a success is what creates an environment in which you can do it again, and it builds support. It’s great to feel positive about an achievement, but make sure others feel elevated by what you do as well.